Starting College? Applying for Aid or Loans can be an Education! You’re excited about your college career, but the biggest question facing you is this: How will I pay for it? For several decades now, college tuition has been rising steadily. The sticker shock of tuition costs has students and families scrambling for options. Financial aid and student loans are two of those options. But, what should you consider prior to pursuing one of these options? Understand the difference between need-based and merit-based financial aid Merit-based and need-based aid are different types of financial assis ..read more

Bankruptcy Is an Opportunity to Rebuild Bankruptcy is a low point in anyone’s financial life and it’s natural to feel a little in despair. Most people fear that they will never be the same again financially and that their credit rating will never be good enough to buy the things they want and need. Others fear that they will always carry a mark of shame for having gone through bankruptcy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bankruptcy is simply a financial tool and, when used properly, can be a great opportunity to rebuild your credit and get your financial life in order. Bankruptcy ..read more

How to Prepare to Buy Your First Home Buying a home is a quintessential step in achieving the American dream, but if you have lackluster credit, the process can seem daunting. Wondering if home ownership is possible for you? And what do you need to do to make this dream a reality? First, you need to work on improving your credit score. Here’s a look at the main steps involved: Familiarize yourself with your credit report When granting mortgages, lenders look at several elements, but your income and credit score are the central players in the decision-making process. Before you start ..read more

Being Offered a Quick Fix to Bad Credit? Beware! Lack of jobs and volatile economic conditions post-2008 pushed many US citizens to default on payments, hampering their credit scores. That was the time when agencies claiming to provide immediate solutions to bad credit scores started to surface. Many agencies, however, toyed with laws and indulged in malpractices such as forgery. Eventually, the Office of Attorney General nabbed these agencies by acting through the Credit Repair Organization Act, 1996. Nevertheless, there still exist many agencies that are nothing but an outright scam. Having ..read more

Learn How Tax Audits May Affect Credit Scores Credit score repair services across the U.S. keep alerting their clients about the potential damage their credit reports may cause following an audit. Approximately 1.2 million people in the nation had to face tax audits this year, which is an all-time low figure. Consumers tend to spend weeks, even months preparing for their taxes, but during an audit, the preparation time does little good. Getting a tax audit request mail from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is not something any U.S. citizen looks forward to. What happens in a Tax A ..read more

Improve Credit Rating with a Secured Credit Card People with a poor credit score face a number of difficulties, ranging from being rejected for a mortgage to being asked to pay an unusually high interest rate. In addition, they are also required to pay more for insurance and even asked to deposit a security amount to avail public utilities such as gas, water, and electricity. In contrast, a high credit score makes it easier for you to get approval on high-value loans and that too at low-interest rates. Given the criticality, it would be safe to say that credit repair is not a choice for ..read more

Credit Bureaus Finally Waking Up to the Concerns of US Citizens “Obviously this is a serious situation. I’m going to get our security and forensics teams involved”, were the words of Equifax’s Vice President (Corporate Communications) on being contacted on a recent case, which made quite a buzz on social channels. The case involved a Maine-based woman who received credit reports for more than 300 US citizens in her email, instead of getting her own credit report, the one that she had requested. The incident signifies a major lapse on the part of Equifax, one of the three major credit rep ..read more

Debt Inheritance: All You Need to Know No matter how you avoid the pitfalls of the modern financial system, there are circumstances when unexpected distress such as an unpaid debt of a loved one may become a reason for worry, irrespective of your capacity to bear the responsibility. In this brief read, we look at the finer lines of the laws around debt inheritance, and the right way forward in such a situation. Debt After Death: Understanding the Results Typically, the executor is required to manage or find out ways to settle the debt of a deceased person or their testator. Assuming that the ..read more

5 Benefits of a Good Credit Score Your credit score is the most crucial indicator of your financial strength and to a large extent, financial freedom.  It is the cumulative summary of how you’ve handled your debts, payments, income, monetary accounts and other financial dealings. What Makes Credit Score Significant? Your credit score does not affect just one or two aspects of your financial life. It determines what interest rate you pay, how much of a loan you are qualified to borrow, how easily you get a job, rental home, phone contract, and essentially, your general social st ..read more

Credit Repair Explained: A Must Read for Every US Citizen Financial crisis, whether a result of joblessness or mismanagement of resources, pushes the person into scenarios that often hamper their credit score. Factors such as failing to stick to the credit agreement, missing repayment of credit card or loan payments, or late payments – all have a potentially damaging impact on credit score. En masse, a bad credit score due to any reason impedes a consumer’s ability to borrow for future endeavors. That is the reason why, more often than not, people are found pondering how to improve credit sco ..read more